I Love You, Dad: The Alternate Epilogue
by The One and Only Smart Blonde
Summary: The original epilogue scene between Lloyd and Kratos left a little to be desired, so I went to all the trouble of writing a new one. This isn't slash, people. That's just nasty.


Yuan: Oh, readers! Blonde, we have readers!

Blonde: YOU'RE JOKING! (shoves Yuan out of the way) Hi readers! (waves frantically)

Yuan: Don't you need to do the disclaimer and whatnot?

Blonde: Oh, yeah. I don't own Tales of Symphonia, it's characters, or the scene that I refurbished.

Yuan: And….

Blonde: Right. _Italic_ means memories and **bold **means thoughts. Is that it?

Yuan: All's good.

* * *

Lloyd stood next to his father near what was left of the Tower of Salvation, gazing up at Derris-Kharlan, which now looked less like the sky and more like an object in the sky. "You don't really have to go, do you?" he asked, wishing that the feeling of tears welling up in his eyes would go away so that he wouldn't burst out crying upon hearing the inevitable answer.

"Unfortunately, I must. I cannot stay here. You must remember, I am an angel of Cruxis. I must return to Derris-Kharlan. I have no choice." His tone was cold and apathetic as always, but both he and the younger Aurion knew it hurt him to say it as much as it hurt his son to hear it.

"Kra – er… uh… Dad…" Kratos felt a certain warmth knowing that Lloyd had finally accepted him as his father. "I don't want you to leave. I can't just stand back and wave goodbye like I did last time…" The teenager then did something that neither of them would have ever expected him to do. He hugged his father. "It feels kind of weird saying this but… I love you… Dad." His eyes widened upon his realization of the strangeness of that statement. "Uh…. Dearly, not queerly." He added quickly.

A single tear trickled down Kratos' face. "You were very small when I left all those years ago. I remember it clearly. You were on top of Noishe, playing with his ears, while I told Dirk what happened. I could hear you crying as I left the forest."

A memory from long ago came back to Lloyd.

_"Ears!" The brown-haired toddler giggled. "Big ears!" He pulled on the green-and-white doglike animal's long ears, while his father stood nearby, explaining something the child didn't understand to a man who wasn't even tall enough to touch the top of Noishe's head._

_The boy's father then walked over to where he was and placed something blue and shiny on the back of the toddler's hand._

**My Exsphere!**

_"I'll come back for you somday. Be good for Dirk while I'm gone." The angel turned on his heel and made his way out of the forest. As soon as he was out of sight, little Lloyd began screaming."_

_"What? Daddy? Daddy, noooo! Come back!"_

Lloyd was now sobbing uncontrollably. "I remember… I remember that day." He released his hold on Kratos and clutched his arms to his stomach, breathing a shaky sigh and looking at the ground.

The angel was in a similar state. They stood there in silence for a moment, both Aurions trying to collect themselves. Then he continued what he was saying before Lloyd remembered the first time his father left him.

"It was both a blessing and a curse when I found you again. I had finally found my son, whom I had been searching for since I came back to Sylvarant, but you wanted so badly to go on the journey of regeneration with the Chosen and your teacher, so I knew I would eventually become your enemy…" Lloyd turned and faced his father again. "I forgive you for that. You did a lot to help us, too."

Kratos looked up at Derris-Kharlan, which was farther away now than it had been when the two first arrived. "I'm afraid that if I do not depart now, I will never get back to Derris-Kharlan." He turned toward his son. "In order to aid you in your new journey, I shall discard all of Derris-Kharlan's Exspheres into space." Lloyd smiled. "Thanks."

As Kratos stepped onto the transporter to take him to Welgaia, he said one last thing. "Don't die before I do, Lloyd… my son."

* * *

Yuan: (wipes a tear away) Aww! 

Blonde: I love it!

Yuan: You stole the last couple of lines from the game.

Blonde: Yes, I know.

Yuan: It was SUPPOSED to be completely original.

Blonde: Well, it wasn't.

Yuan: Anyway… (to readers) You read it, now go review!


End file.
